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"Chip Of A Book"

"Our hope is that when this chip of a book is launched on the world tide of alcoholism, defeated drinkers will seize upon it, to follow its suggestions. Many, we are sure, will rise to their feet and march on. They will approach still other sick ones and fellowships of Alcoholics Anonymous may spring up in each city and hamlet, havens for those who must find a way out." ~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, Page 153~

Just think for a moment. The people who wrote the Big Book had visions for it to be a useful tool for other alcoholics to come. It was their hope that others like themselves would take the book and use the helpful information contained with-in it?s binders. They were confident that the book would be used by other defeated alcoholics and in turn that would spur them on to create a fellowship in which other alcoholics would be able to meet and be able to talk about their problems. To find a way out!!!!

What vision these people had. Their dreams came true. We have Alcoholics Anonymous groups not only in every nook and cranny of America, but in all different countries of the world. The book even spurred on and helped other avenues of recovery for different types of obsessive behavior. This all started by the book the first few people decided to share with the rest of the world.

Yet there is a problem I see with all of this glory. That problem is that we have a fellowship in which many people gather seeking a way out of their addiction, yet there are many who refuse to recognize where the suggested program lies. The suggested program of recovery is found with-in the pages of the "Chip Of A Book."

Each week I share with you an insight of what I get out reading the contents of that book. It is my hopes and dreams that even if one of the words that I write can help someone, that my purpose for doing it will be fore filled. Maybe you could say that it is my hope that this chip of a column might be able to help others like myself in focusing their attention to where the answer lies.

Is the suggested program of recovery for everyone? No!!! It certainly doesn't seem that way to me, but if someone seriously considers themselves an alcoholic, then it is a very good place to start. Yet it is very hard to point someone in the direction of something if they refuse to see it.

You can ask about anyone that ever knew me previous to picking up the book and you will get the answer that there seemed to be absolutely no hope for me. I was in a hopeless state of mind. Not only was I hopelessly addicted to alcohol, but I used everything a person could imagine to get high. That and the fact that I was so selfish and self-centered that I used everyone and everything that I could to get that high. It certainly was a problem that seemed insurmountable.

Yeah I went to A.A. meetings! I went in there with the idea that that I had all the answers and refused to listen to anyone. I looked up on the wall at the 12 steps and the 12 traditions and all I saw were words. I certainly had no place for God, so when I heard other people telling me that was where I needed to look, I just blew them off as someone who was too weak-willed and needed to use God as a crutch. That type of thinking got me pretty far, I was in the bar not more than 30 minutes after the meeting.

This went on and on for years and finally the day came that I pushed the envelope just a little bit too far. In a drunken and doped up black out, I hopped in my truck and smashed into another car less than a block away from my house.

Again! I was in jail, but this time it was a lot different. Something had come over me. I realized that life had become completely unmanageable. It was that day that I got down on my knees and prayed to the God that I had been doubting. I prayed for Him to help me get a grip on things!

I went to rehab and it was there that I found out what the first three steps had to say. It was the first time in many years that I actually was willing to understand something. Sure I knew that my life was unmanageable and I was powerless over alcohol, but I also knew that I was powerless over a lot of things. I knew that if I were going to make anything out of being serious about becoming sober that I was going to need help.

That was the day I went to the A.A. meeting (still in rehab) and stood up and asked for a sponsor. It was my fortune that the man who took my hand and said that he was willing to help was someone who understood the vision of the first few. He handed me a copy of Alcoholics Anonymous and said "Start at the beginning and read the first 164 pages, we will talk about it after you do that."

So I did! Man did I have a million questions!!! Yet some how I related to this book. It was because I became willing to take on suggestions (such as reading the first 164 pages) that I caught on to what it was saying. From that day on I rose up to my feet and marched on, SOBER!!!
--Ed C.